Tuesday, July 05, 2011

Morning cannibalism report

Here's the NPR foreign staff, bein' all folksy as it introduces the nation to campaign-trail dining in South Carolina:

In more than a half-century of working here, Stroble has served up candidates from John Connally to Richard Nixon to Ross Perot.

Don't think so. Here's the same phrasal verb later in the story:
Tommy's Ham House in Greenville serves up country ham, grits, red-eye gravy and sweet potato pancakes.

"Serve" can go both ways: you can serve customers, and you can serve the food they eat. But "serve up" can't. It's for the stuff on the plate. Be careful when you're featurizin' up your campaign reporting, lest you end up shootin' yourself in the foot.